Essential questions

Unit eq's

Unit 1.11. Choose an engineering degree field. What are four possible occupations that represent a wide range of job responsibilities?Automotive Engineer, Civil Engineer, Biomedical Engineer, Mechanical Engineer2. If each member of a team is working in different physical locations across the world, how might each form of communication be best accomplished?Email or Live group chats/Facetime3. Identify a mechanism in your household. Why that mechanism is designed the way it is?A fan. This is designed this way because it helps transfer 4. What are some strategies that can be used to make everyday mechanisms more efficient? Increasing the mechanical advantage would makes the mechanisms more efficient.5. Describe one situation in which an engineer would want to include a mechanism with a mechanical advantage greater than one? What is the advantage in this case?It makes it easier to perform a task because the input effort is less than the resistance effort.6. How could designing a solution to a mechanical problem without regard to efficiency be problematic? The solution might not be more efficient therefore it doesn't solve the problem.

Unit 1.21. Choose a specific energy production source. Explain why it is considered “clean.” In what ways may it not be so “clean?”Tidal power might be considered clean because it is renewable. It might not be considered clean because it can damage wildlife.2. How might innovation of current technology involved with energy production provide energy more efficient?Current technology is more efficient and up to date, so using it to make energy would make the energy more efficient.3. What alternative energy source would be best implemented in your community? Explain why.Solar energy would be best implemented because all you have to do is install solar panels. It does not require any major construction which is great because it is very busy where I live. 4. Choose a specific energy production source. Coal5. What is one possible way that “lost” energy might be collected in your home or school and transformed for a useable purpose?You can recycle any waste and always turn the lights off when you leave a room.6. What are the advantages and disadvantages of wiring a house with either series or parallel circuits?In a series circuit, if one light turns off, all the lights turn off. Also when a bulb is added, the resistance is greater and the current is slower. An advantage is that they are not very complicated. An advantage of a parallel circuit is that if one bulb goes out, it does not affect any of the other ones. A disadvantage of the parallel circuit is that it might have a lot of wires.

Unit 1.31. In what innovative ways could the efficiency of electricity production using solar cells be maximized throughout the day?You can use insulations that keep heat and energy in.2. Describe how hydrogen fuel cells could become a viable way of producing energy for vehicles. What advancements in technology and infrastructure need to take place to make its usage more common?Hydrogen fuel cells provide energy for the vehicles when it is not being charged. Technology advancements that can help become more useful is if it was cheaper and eco-friendly.3. A hydrogen fuel cell by itself is not sufficient to power much of anything in our society. How could fuel cells be configured to produce enough voltage and current to a system?Combining energy sources to increase voltage and current can help power things.4. What are some materials in your home that provide prevent energy transfer from inside your home to the outside environment? Which of the three forms of energy transfer are they attempting to limit?Radiation --> Roof Conduction --> Insulations Convection --> Air-cooling System 5. Which of the three forms of energy transfer are the materials in your home inhibiting the least? What could be done to change that? Conduction, convection, and radiation; You can use insulation to keep in heat and energy inside your home.

Unit 1.41. How does a design team come to know what problem to solve?A design team gathers and create lists of problems and solutions to make a product better.2. Why is it important for the team to come to a consensus on issues that arise? What are some reasons why the team leader should not dictate the direction of the group?A team needs to agree and form ideas together that contain a little bit of everybody's ideas. A leader should not dictate because the leader might be wrong and that will affect the whole groups grade.3. What are two possible ways that a team could come to a consensus in a disagreement over a solution to a problem?They can vote for or against or they can make a list of pros and cons.4. Engineers follow the design process, when solving a problem. What possible problems could arise, if the design process is not followed?An engineer can make a product that doesn't meet the criteria for the product or the appearance affects how the product works and functions is also a problem.

Unit 2.11. Why is it crucial for designers and engineers to construct accurate free body diagrams of the parts and structures that they design?It is crucial for engineers and designers to construct a free body diagrams because it helps them know how the parts and structures with the forces upon the parts affect the final product.2. Why must designers and engineers calculate forces acting on bodies and structures?Designers and engineers calculate forces to find its efficiency and how well the product functions.3. When solving truss forces, why is it important to know that the structure is statically determinate?If the structure is not statically determinate, you can not calculate the truss.

Unit 2.2 1. How does an engineer predict the performance and safety for a selected material?An engineer can predict the performance and safety for a selected material by performing a variety of tests, such as the hardness test, to ensure that the selected material works properly.2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of utilizing synthetic materials designed by engineers?An advantage is that the synthetic materials are whatever the engineer would like them to be because they are not natural. A disadvantage is that the engineers will always have to make the material which takes a long time.3. What ethical issues pertain to engineers designing synthetic materials?Since synthetic materials are not natural, some engineers believe that it is wrong to make and use them.4. What did you learn about the significance of selecting materials for product design?I learned that when selecting materials for product design, one should consider its hardness, strengths, density and other characteristics of a good material.5. How can an existing product be changed to incorporate different processes to make it less expensive and provide better performance?Existing products can be changed by innovation and the improvement of processes that creates cheaper but better products.6. How does an engineer decide which manufacturing process to use for a given material?Each material has a certain process in creating the material.7. How do the recycling codes and symbols differ from state to state?Since there are no standardized regulations for recycling symbols, they can differ from state to state.

Unit 2.31. Why is it critical for engineers to document all calculation steps when solving problems?It is critical for engineers to document all calculation steps when solving problems because they need to keep records of everything for accuracy and to compare results and problems in the calculations.2. How is material testing data useful?Material testing data is useful because it helps one decide what material use for the production of the product.3. Stress strain curve date points are useful in determining what specific material properties? The stress strain curve date points are useful for determining the flexibility and strength of the material.

Unit 2.4 1. What is a design brief? What are design constraints?A design brief is a written plan that identifies a problem to be solved, a criteria, and the constraints. Constraints are the restrictions and limitations to a task.2. Why is a design process so important to follow when creating a solution to a problem? It is important because you are able to see which part if the design process you made a mistake on if the product doesn't function properly.3. What is a decision matrix and why is it used?A decision matrix is something that people use to rank or position parts of something based on its overall function and constraints. It is used to help the engineer determine which idea or product is the best.4. What does consensus mean, and how do teams use consensus to make decisions?Consensus means a general agreement. Teams make decisions by voting or using a decision matrix to determine which decision to make.5. How do the properties and types of materials affect the solution to a design problem?They can determine how well a product functions and how efficient the material is for the solution.

Unit 3.1 1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using programmable logic to control machines versus monitoring and adjusting processes manually?Advantages of using programmable logic is it is simple to function and work without manually doing work. Disadvantages are programming the actual program to control the machine.2. What are some everyday seemingly simple devices that contain microprocessors, and what function do the devices serve?Computers, phones, tablets, and other electronic devices contain microprocessors. Its function is for the the device to be more easy to use.3. What questions must designers ask when solving problems in order to decide between digital or analog systems and between open or closed loop systems? Designers should ask whether or not the system is digital or analog and then determine if it is opened or closed.

Unit 3.21. What impact does fluid power have on our everyday lives?Fluid power pumps power and energy that we can use in our daily lives.2. Can you identify devices or systems that do not use fluid power that might be improved with the use of fluid power?Electricity does not use fluid power, but if it uses fluid power, it would be longer and more durable.3. What are similarities and differences of mechanical advantage in simple machines and hydraulic systems?They both have the same formulas to solve for the mechanical advantage.4. Why are Pascal’s Law, the perfect gas laws, Bernoulli’s Principle, and other similar rules important to engineers and designers of fluid power systems?They are important to engineers and designers of fluid power systems because they help figure out calculations.

Unit 3.31. What is a design brief and what are design constraints?A design brief is a basic summary of the project or assignment and design constraints are particular restrictions for the project.2. Why is a design process so important to follow when creating a solution to a problem? A design process is important to follow when creating a solution to a problem because it helps the solution become more accurate and reliable.3. What is a decision matrix and why is it used?A decision matrix is a table containing different ideas brainstormed. It is used to decide on what idea to follow through with.4. What does consensus mean, and how do teams use consensus to make decisions?A consensus is an agreement. Teams use consensus to make decisions by voting or using a decision matrix.5. How does the use of mechanisms affect the overall solution to a design problem?Using mechanisms affects the overall solution to a design problem by making the solution more accurate and effective.

Unit 4.11. Why is it crucial for designers and engineers to utilize statistics throughout the design process?It is crucial for designers and engineers to utilize statistics throughout the design process because it helps the solution be more accurate.2. Why is process control a necessary statistical process for ensuring product success?Process control is a necessary statistical process for ensuring product success because it avoids the risk of failure and mistakes.3. Why is theory-based data interpretation valuable in decision making?Theory-based data interpretation is valuable in decision making to find out the best solution or way to solve a problem.4. Why is experiment-based data interpretation valuable in decision making?Experiment-based data interpretation is valuable in decision making because it helps it be more accurate and reliable.

Unit 4.21. What are the relationships between distance, displacement, speed, velocity, and acceleration?The relationships between distance, displacement, speed, velocity, and acceleration are that if one is missing they are all related so you can figure out the missing value.2. Why is it important to understand and be able to control the motion of a projectile?It is important to understand and be able to control the motion of a projectile because it helps predict or calculate the initial target.